Rugby Australia has confirmed Michael Cheika will lead Australia to next year's World Cup but from now on will work under the supervision of Scott Johnson, who takes a new role as Australia's director of rugby.

Manu Samoa 7s coach Sir Gordon Tietjens is pleased with the performance of his side through the first two rounds of the World Rugby Sevens Series. Samoa finished 9th in Dubai and 10th in Cape Town, leaving them 10th in the overall standings of the ten-round competition.

Samoa 7s played in the Challenge final yesterday/this morning for the second World Rugby Sevens Series event in a row. However after last week’s 9th place finish in Dubai, Samoa finished 10th overall having lost their final 14-38 to Argentina.

Fiji capitalized on mistake after mistake by the United States to win the Cape Town World Rugby Sevens 29-15 on Sunday, sending the Americans to a second straight defeat in a final at the start of the season.

For the second week in a row, Samoa were unlucky to finish third in their World Rugby Sevens Series pool. Once again they ended Day One on seven points, equal with the first and second teams in their pool.

With the first round of the 2018-19 World Rugby Sevens Series beginning on Friday night Samoan time in Dubai, the Manu Samoa 7s are entering a new era. That’s the view of Samoa Rugby Union general manager of high performance Zane Hilton.

New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen has offered a sunny assessment of where his squad stands less than a year out from a Rugby World Cup in Japan, where the All Blacks will be trying to win the Webb Ellis Trophy for the third straight time.

Joe Schmidt will leave as Ireland coach after next year's Rugby World Cup, and seemingly ruled out taking charge of his native New Zealand in the future by saying he was ending his coaching career to focus on his family.

Ireland flyhalf Johnny Sexton was named World Rugby Player of the Year at a glittering ceremony in Monaco on Sunday, leading a sweep of the major awards by an Ireland team which has swept all before it this season.

Lupesoliai Joseph Parker went two years without a knockout win, but when it came against Alexander Flores in Christchurch this morning, it was worth the wait. Lupesoliai knocked Flores out with 2:51 gone in round three, with a brutal seven punch combo completing a well-crafted performance.

Samoa’s wild 5-all draw in their second game of the OFC Nations Cup against Tahiti had a bit of everything. Perhaps lucky to escape a red card for lashing out in retaliation, 15-year-old striker Sina Sataraka ended up with a hattrick.

The Samoa Basketball Federation started its four-day tournament at Apia Park gym earlier this week. The various categories competing in the tournament include open women and men, Under 17 and 14 boys, girls’ teams from Upolu, Savaii and an open men’s team from American Samoa.